United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2025
Gas-Operated Semi-Automatic Firearms Exclusion Act or the GOSAFE Act This bill establishes a framework to regulate gas-operated semiautomatic firearms and large capacity ammunition feeding devices under federal firearms laws. First, the bill generally prohibits the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, receipt, or possession of a firearm that is or is modified to operate as a prohibited gas-operated semiautomatic firearm; a combination of parts that modify or can be assembled into a prohibited gas-operated semiautomatic firearm, or that produce an unlawful gas-operated semiautomatic cycling action; a device or combination of parts designed to materially increase the rate of fire of a semiautomatic firearm; or a firearm that is modified to materially increase the rate of fire. Second, the bill generally prohibits (1) the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, or receipt of a large capacity ammunition feeding device; or (2) the possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device manufactured after the date of enactment. A violation is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to 12 months, or both, for each violation. In addition, an individual who possesses a prohibited gas-operated semiautomatic firearm during a federal felony offense is subject to additional penalties—a fine, a mandatory minimum prison term of two years, or both. Finally, the bill allows a state or local government to use Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program funds to compensate individuals who surrender gas-operated semiautomatic firearms and large capacity ammunition feeding devices under a buy-back program.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2025
Closing the Bump Stock Loophole Act of 2025 This bill generally prohibits the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, receipt, or possession of a device that is primarily designed, or redesigned, to increase the rate of fire when attached to a semiautomatic firearm; a device, part, or combination of parts that is designed and functions to increase the rate of fire of a firearm; or a semiautomatic firearm that has been modified to materially increase the rate of fire or to approximate the action or rate of fire of a machine gun. Additionally, the bill adds to the list of firearms subject to regulation under the National Firearms Act semiautomatic firearms that have been modified to materially increase the rate of fire or approximate the action or rate of fire of a machine gun.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2025
Medicare Audiology Access Improvement Act of 2025 This bill provides for Medicare coverage of certain audiology services. Specifically, the bill expands coverage to include diagnostic and treatment services that are furnished by audiologists and that would otherwise be covered if provided by a physician, including incidental services, regardless of whether such services are provided pursuant to a referral from, or under the supervision of, a physician or other health care practitioner.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 2025
Strengthening Child Exploitation Enforcement Act This bill makes changes to federal criminal laws related to various offenses, particularly sexual abuse offenses against minors. The bill revises the federal kidnapping statute by specifying that obtaining a victim by defrauding or deceiving a third party constitutes the offense of kidnapping. Additionally, for a kidnapping offense that involves a victim who has not attained the age of 16, the bill specifies that it is not a defense that the victim consented to the conduct of the offender, unless the offender establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the offender reasonably believed that the victim had attained the age of 16. The bill also revises statutes related to sexual abuse offenses against minors to specify the following: that crossing international lines with the intent to engage in a sexual act with a child who has not attained the age of 12 constitutes aggravated sexual abuse (currently, the statute only references crossing state lines), that the offense of sexual abuse of a minor also includes knowingly causing the intentional touching of any person by a person who has not attained the age of 16, and that attempting to commit abusive sexual contact is also a crime that is subject to the same penalty as the completed offense.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 2025
Trade Review Act of 2025 This bill requires congressional notification and review of new or increased duties (i.e., tariffs) imposed by the President on articles imported into the United States. Specifically, the President must notify Congress within 48 hours of imposing or increasing a duty on articles imported into the United States. This notification must include (1) the rationale for imposing or increasing the duty, and (2) an assessment of the duty's potential impact on U.S. businesses and consumers. The bill limits the duration of a duty to 60 days, unless a joint resolution of approval is enacted into law. A duty shall cease to have force or effect if a joint resolution of disapproval is enacted into law.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 2025
No Tax Breaks for Union Busting (NTBUB) Act This bill excludes from the tax deduction for ordinary and necessary business expenses amounts paid or incurred to influence employees with respect to labor organizations or labor organization activities. The bill also imposes information reporting requirements related to such expenses and imposes penalties for failure to comply. Under the bill, amounts paid to influence employees with respect to labor organizations include amounts paid (including wages and other costs) in connection with an action that results in a complaint or settlement related to an unfair labor practice or a finding of interference, influence, or coercion related to railway employees’ rights to organize and bargain collectively; for any meeting or training attended by employees and at which labor organizations are discussed; and that require certain employer disclosures and financial reporting. (Some exceptions apply.) The bill requires employers to file a return reporting certain information related to expenses paid to influence employees with respect to labor organizations and imposes a penalty for noncompliance. The amount of the penalty is the greater of (1) $10,000, or (2) $1,000 multiplied by the number full-time equivalent employees. Additional penalties apply for violations that continue for more than 90 days. The bill also imposes information reporting requirements on persons conducting activities on behalf of another person to influence employees with respect to labor organizations. The bill allows certain penalties for noncompliance with the reporting requirements to be waived if noncompliance is due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 2025
Expanding Access to School Meals Act of 2025 This bill increases student access to free school lunches and breakfasts under the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program of the Department of Agriculture (USDA). Specifically, the bill expands program eligibility to include students in households with income at or below 224% of the federal poverty level. (Currently, students in households with income at or below 130% are eligible.) The bill also eliminates the reduced price school lunch and breakfast programs and prohibits USDA from providing reimbursements for reduced price programs. States may use Medicaid participation data to directly certify students for free school meals. (Direct certification allows schools to approve meals without the need for a separate application for children who receive assistance under other programs.) Under current law, states may apply to participate in a USDA demonstration project to directly certify children for free and reduced price meals based on household income data acquired through Medicaid. Further, the bill increases the number of free meals a school in a high-poverty area may be reimbursed for at the free-meal rate under the Community Eligibility Provision. (This provision allows eligible schools, groups of schools, and school districts to offer free meals at no cost to all enrolled students without collecting separate applications.) Specifically, the bill increases from 1.6% to 2.5% the reimbursement multiplier, which is used to calculate how many meals USDA will reimburse the school for at the free meal rate.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 2025
Fallen Servicemembers Religious Heritage Restoration Act This bill requires the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) to establish the Fallen Servicemembers Religious Heritage Restoration Program to identify deceased members of the Armed Forces who were Jewish and buried in a U.S. military cemetery located outside of the United States under a marker indicating the member was not Jewish. The program must contact survivors and descendants of such members. The ABMC must seek to enter into a contract with a nonprofit organization to carry out the program during the first 10 fiscal years beginning after the date of enactment of the bill.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2025
Sammy’s Law This bill requires large social media platforms to permit certain providers of safety software to monitor and manage the activity of children under the age of 17 on such platforms. Specifically, large social media platforms must make available a mechanism by which a child or their parent or guardian may permit a provider of safety software to (1) manage the child’s interactions, content, and account settings on the platform; and (2) regularly access the child’s user data. A software provider may only disclose a child’s data under limited circumstances, including to the child’s parent or guardian if the child is experiencing or is at foreseeable risk of experiencing specified harms. Such harms include suicide, eating disorders, sexual abuse, harassment, and academic dishonesty. The provider may only share data necessary for a reasonable parent or caregiver to understand that the child is experiencing or is at risk of harm. To participate, a software provider must register with the Federal Trade Commission, undergo a security review, and demonstrate that, among other requirements, the provider is based in the United States and will use a child's data solely to protect them from harm. Under the bill, a large social media platform is generally a service that enables a child to share content through the internet with other users that the child has become aware of solely through the platform, and which has more than 100 million monthly global active users or generates more than $1 billion in gross annual revenue.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2025
Federal Firearm Licensee Act This bill establishes new security requirements and expands recordkeeping and reporting requirements for federally licensed dealers, importers, and manufacturers of firearms (i.e., federal firearms licensees, or FFLs). The bill also broadens the authority of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to administer federal firearms laws and enforce violations. Specifically, bill requires FFLs to implement and comply with a plan to secure their business premises, conduct quarterly physical checks of their business inventories, maintain video surveillance of the area where firearms are sold or transferred, and initiate firearms-related background checks for employees. Additionally, the bill requires FFLs to report to the ATF any inventory firearm that is lost, stolen, or unaccounted for and to notify the ATF about default-proceed transactions (i.e., allowable firearm transfers to an unlicensed person prior to the completion of a background check when the submitted background check remains incomplete after three business days). Finally, the bill removes limits on the ATF's authority to conduct activities related to the administration of federal firearms laws. It enhances the ATF's inspection authority, including by removing the limit on the number of annual compliance inspections (currently, one), requiring inspections of high-risk FFLs, and authorizing an additional 650 investigators. Finally, the bill directs the ATF to deny an application for a federal firearms license if it would endanger public safety or if the applicant is unlikely to comply with the law.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2025
Freedom of Association in Higher Education Act of 2025 This bill establishes freedom of association protections for college students in single-sex social organizations. Specifically, the bill gives students (or groups of students) enrolled at institutions of higher education (IHEs) the right to form or join social organizations, including single-sex social organizations. Additionally, the bill prohibits IHEs that participate in federal student aid programs from taking adverse actions against single-sex social organizations or students who are members or prospective members of such organizations based solely on the practice of limiting membership to only individuals of one sex; taking actions that require or coerce members or prospective members of such organizations to waive protections provided under the bill, including as a condition of enrolling in the IHE; or imposing a recruitment restriction on a single-sex social organization that is not imposed upon other student organizations, unless the organization and IHE have entered into a written agreement allowing the restriction.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2025
Comprehensive Alternative Response for Emergencies Act of 2025 or the CARE Act of 2025 This bill requires the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to test a five-year model that provides for Medicare payment for ground ambulance services that do not result in the transport of the patient. Under the model, Medicare payment may be furnished for ground ambulance services when an ambulance is dispatched in response to an emergency medical call but the ambulance does not end up transporting the patient. Payment rates under the model must generally align with the payment rates that apply when there is an actual transport. The Government Accountability Office must report on the general access of Medicare beneficiaries to emergency medical services, including the impact of the model on beneficiary access and outcomes.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2025
Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act This bill requires the Department of Labor to address workplace violence in health care, social service, and similar sectors. Specifically, Labor must issue an occupational safety and health standard that requires certain employers to take actions to protect workers and other personnel from workplace violence. The standard applies to employers in the health care sector, in the social service sector, and in sectors that conduct activities similar to those in the health care and social service sectors. Among other elements, the standard must require each employer to (1) develop a workplace violence prevention plan, (2) promptly investigate incidents of workplace violence, and (3) provide relevant training and education to employees. The bill requires certain hospitals and skilled nursing facilities to comply with this standard as a condition of Medicare participation.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2025
Protect America's Workforce Act This bill nullifies the Executive Order titled Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs (issued on March 27, 2025), which excludes specified executive agencies and subdivisions from the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute. The statute authorizes federal employees' participation in collective bargaining and enforces collective bargaining rights. The bill also specifies that a covered collective bargaining agreement in place as of March 26, 2025, shall have full force and effect through the stated term of the agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2025
This concurrent resolution expresses the sense of Congress that 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico are in violation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). (President Donald J. Trump issued executive orders on February 1, 2025, to impose an additional 25% tariff on most imports from Canada and Mexico.)
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2025
Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025 This bill imposes penalties on certain persons (individuals and entities) if the President determines that the Russian government or a person acting at Russia's direction is involved with (1) refusing to negotiate a peace agreement with Ukraine; (2) violating a negotiated peace agreement; (3) initiating another invasion of Ukraine; or (4) overthrowing, dismantling, or seeking to subvert the Ukrainian government. If the President makes such a determination, the bill requires certain actions including the President must impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions on specified persons such as the Russian president, certain Russian military commanders, and any foreign person that knowingly provides defense items to the Russian armed forces; the President must increase the rate of duty on all goods and services imported from Russia into the United States to at least 500% relative to the value of such goods and services; the President must increase the rate of duty on all goods and services imported into the United States from countries that knowingly engage in the exchange of Russian-origin uranium and petroleum products to at least 500% relative to the value of such goods and services; the Department of the Treasury must impose property-blocking sanctions on any financial institution organized under Russian law and owned wholly or partly by Russia, and any financial institution that engages in transactions with those entities; and the Department of Commerce must prohibit the export, reexport, or in-country transfer to or in Russia of any U.S.-produced energy or energy product.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2025
Ensuring Access to Specialty care Everywhere Act of 2025 or the EASE Act of 2025 This bill requires the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to test a model that uses a network of providers to remotely furnish specialty health care to Medicare, Medicaid, and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) beneficiaries in rural areas. To conduct the model, the CMMI must select at least one provider network that is a nonprofit entity and that consists of at least 50 federally qualified health centers, rural health clinics, critical access hospitals, or rural emergency hospitals. At least half of the providers in the network must be located in rural areas. Providers must use digital methods (e.g., telehealth technology) to provide specialty care and must coordinate with beneficiaries' primary care providers.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 2025
Hunger-Free Future Act of 2025 This bill prohibits any reevaluation or update to the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) that results in an increase in food insecurity (i.e., an increase in the number of households that lack adequate food as a result of having insufficient money and other resources to acquire food). As background, USDA created the TFP (the cost of purchasing a nutritionally adequate low-cost diet), which is used to determine maximum monthly benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). USDA calculates the cost of the TFP (i.e., the market basket of goods) each year to account for food price inflation. Under a provision of the 2018 farm bill, USDA must reevaluate the market basket of goods every five years based on current food prices, food composition data, consumption patterns, and dietary guidance.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 2025
Seniors’ Access to Critical Medications Act of 2025 This bill temporarily expands flexibilities under the Stark law (i.e., the Physician Self-Referral Law) for certain physicians who dispense covered outpatient drugs under the Medicare prescription drug benefit at the physician's office location (e.g., through an integrated pharmacy). The Stark law generally prohibits physicians from referring patients to receive services that are payable under Medicare or Medicaid from entities in which the physician or an immediate family member has a financial relationship. Specifically, the bill allows, from 2026-2030, physicians to dispense such drugs from the physician's office, including through in-person pickup by a caregiver or via mail, if (1) the physician prescribed the drug, (2) the beneficiary has an ongoing relationship with the physician, (3) the beneficiary had at least one face-to-face visit with the physician in the prior year, and (4) the physician bills for the drug. These requirements also apply to physicians within the same group practice. The Government Accountability Office must report on pharmacies or pharmacy networks that dispense significantly more covered drugs under the Medicare prescription drug benefit after the bill's enactment, the extent to which such pharmacies and networks are owned by physicians or integrated into physician practices, and the common characteristics of these types of arrangements.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 2025
Block the Use of Transatlantic Technology in Iranian Made Drones Act This bill requires the Departments of Commerce, State, and Defense to develop plans to prevent Iran from acquiring certain technologies related to unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), also known as drones. Specifically, the bill requires Commerce to develop a strategy to prevent the illegal export to Iran of certain technologies (including microcontrollers, voltage regulators, and microprocessors) that can be used in the development and operation of UAS. The State Department must develop a strategy to prevent the export of these technologies to Iran from the United States and allied and partner countries. Finally, the Department of Defense must develop a range of options that may be employed by the U.S. Armed Forces to counter or deny the ability of Iran to acquire these technologies and other technologies useful for UAS, such as computer-aided design (CAD) software and computer numerical control (CNC) machines.
![Official portrait of Rep. Gottheimer, Josh [D-NJ-5]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/115_rp_nj_5_gottheimer_josh_200.jpg)